Miso In This World

Ouri was the first to reach out.

“C-can I taste a little!?”

Hmm, as expected of Ouri… To think he would work up the nerve to taste it before I did.
Ren held out a spoon.

“Yeah, sure. Here, use this.”

Ouri scooped up some miso and put it into his mouth.

His eyes immediately flew wide open.

“Whoa!? This stuff’s unbelievably deep and rich—damn, it’s good!”

I accepted a spoon from Ren as well and quickly reached for some, unwilling to be outdone.

“I see… The aroma is distinctive enough that people would likely either love it or hate it, but this mature, intensely savory saltiness is irresistible to adventurous gourmets like us.”

Brad and Maria tasted the miso as well.

“There’s an incredible amount of complex umami concentrated in this. If it tastes this good eaten straight, I could see using it not only in soup, but for chashu and seasoned eggs too.”

“It seems like it would go well with raw vegetables too. I bet it’d be delicious spread on zucchini or cabbage and eaten crunchy!”

Ren burst into triumphant laughter.

“Ahahaha! Pretty amazing, isn’t it, miso!? The umami in miso comes from glutamic acid! That’s the same stuff as chemical seasoning, so of course it pairs perfectly with ramen! Miso ramen, which uses miso as its base, is one of the standard ramen varieties in our world alongside soy sauce, salt, and tonkotsu… And it isn’t just for miso soup or ramen broth either. You can pickle egg yolks or tofu in it to make miso pickles, mix it into curry or demi-glace sauce for an easy boost of richness—there’s practically nothing you can’t use it for!”

Brad sounded impressed.

“Wow, so it’s an incredibly versatile seasoning.”

“Miso goes well with oil too. It’s great for seasoning eggplant stir-fried in oil, or mixed with ground meat to make meat miso. You can even just spread it over a magnolia leaf and grill it for a drinking snack… And it isn’t only good for flavor—it’s seriously healthy too, you know? It’s packed with protein, vitamins, and minerals, so it’s good for both beauty and health! Miso is one of the finest fermented foods in the world, something we Japanese ought to be proud of!”

Eggplant fried in oil, meat miso mixed with ground meat… and it even worked as a drinking snack.

Just listening to him made my mouth water!

Brad gazed at the miso and said,

“Truly… your world has so many different seasonings, Ren-san. As a ramen chef, I can only envy you.”

I cleared my throat.

“Ah. About that… Brad-kun. Actually, I happen to know of something in this world that may be equivalent to ‘miso.’”

“What!?”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward me at once.

“I have a swordsman friend named Tenzan. He comes from a Far Eastern island nation, and apparently his homeland has a seasoning made by fermenting soybeans. He is a man of few words, but thinking back on it, the flavor and appearance he described were remarkably similar to miso… And amazingly enough, even the name is similar. They call it ‘Mishau.’ I would have to ask him about it properly before I could say for certain, but perhaps… just perhaps, it really is the same thing.”

In fact, the reason I had been able to identify that the base of this soup was “something made from fermented soybeans” was precisely because Tenzan had once told me about Mishau, and I had remembered it in hopes of tasting it someday.

Ren looked intrigued.

“That’s incredible!… But for a coincidence, that sounds a little too perfect.”

I nodded.

“Yes, I thought so too. Apparently, his sword techniques and that seasoning were brought to his homeland several centuries ago by ‘visitors from another world.’ Perhaps there have been others like you and Taisho—‘people who cross between worlds’—besides the two of you…”